Garo Hamamcıoğlu

Garo Hamamcıoğlu — Biography

Karabet "Garo" Hamamcıoğlu is a former footballer remembered as Sarıyer's all-time top scorer and, after retiring, for many years chairman of Taksim Spor Kulübü. Born in Istanbul, he began at his community's club and became one of Sarıyer's mainstays in the Second League for 13 seasons.

He started in football in 1963 at Taksim Spor and played there for two seasons. When he was conscripted in 1965 he played one season for Gölcük Denizgücü, and after his discharge he transferred to Sarıyer in 1967. He stayed with the navy-and-white side until his testimonial and farewell in 1980. In that time he made 483 appearances and scored 165 goals, and he is Sarıyer's third most-capped player. He was top scorer in the Second League four times. Despite offers from First League clubs he never left Sarıyer. At 35 he came out of retirement to play briefly for Taksim Spor in the Istanbul Amateur League.

After retiring he returned to Taksim Spor, the club where he began, this time as an executive, and served as its chairman; in spring 2026 the chairmanship passed to Alen Bağ. He owns a refrigeration company in the private sector.